It is common knowledge that vehicles which travel laterally on a straight incline surface will be tilted to the horizontal which requires an adjustment in the seating attitude in the occupants of the vehicle. Seated occupants will normally bend their back and tilt their upper body to the vertical position as a way of compensation. It has long been conceived that if the seating is capable of tilting in compensation to the tilting of the vehicle, riding and operating will be much improved. When the seating of the vehicle does not tilt but remains aligned with the vertical axis of the vehicle, passengers and especially the operator are inconvenienced and in some cases endangered by the inclination and fall out of the seat; and the attention of the operator is drawn away from the operation of the vehicle which may become critical under these circumstances.
The most prevalent example of this kind of situation is found in the operation of vehicle tractors which are often operated on rolling terrain where the attitude of the tractor is often changing and frequently changed to the lateral operation on an inclined surface. Frequently, the operation of a tractor includes turning around at opposite ends of the field or area being agriculturally worked. Naturally, when the vehicle reverses the inclination and attitude of the tractor, and seat for the operator, changes and rotates across the vertical axis of the tractor so that when the traverse begins in the opposite direction the seat must be tilted in the opposite direction, if it is to provide the advantages that are sought.
Lawn mowing tractors have become more universally used in suburban areas. With this increased use has come interests of prior art practitioners in attempts to provide the most convenient, safe, and comfortable tiltable tractor seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,001--Weyenberg discloses a tiltable seat for a vehicle, such as a tractor. The seat is pivoted to a support about a pivot axis that extends in a fore and aft direction with respect to the vehicle and is located midway between the sides of the seat. Tilt is adjusted by allowing fluid flow in a cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,337--Torras shows a self-leveling vehicle seat mount including a horizontal seat platform for mounting a seat. The seat platform tilts in grooved rollers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,492--Meiller shows a seat member of a vehicle seat that is mechanically lockable in a selected one of at least three defined positions. One position is level and the others are at opposite angles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,770--Long embodies a seat cushion and base which are made of metal and have oppositely disposed triangular plates attached thereto and connected by pivot pins which are axially aligned on the center of the cushion and base forming a hinge arrangement. Hydraulic pistons hold the seat at a fixed tilt positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,466,089--Stueckle is a seat having mounting means supporting the seat for lateral tilting movements about an axis generally longitudinal of the implement and spaced upwardly above the seat level so as to minimize the relative movement of an operator's hands and feet with respect to the implement controls during tilting movements.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,327--Murphy relates to improvements in adjustable seats for mowers, tractors and like agricultural vehicles and implements, and has for its principal object the provision of a rugged construction enabling adjustable lateral tilting of the seat by the operator to maintain the seat level at such times as the supporting vehicle may be operating on a lateral slope.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,640,812--Ammon relates to seat adjusters for tractors and similar machines.
While these prior devices meet some of the objectives for a tiltable tractor seat they have not completely met the objectives or the requirements for such a seat.
The present invention is distinguished from the prior art by its simplicity in accomplishing sought after features of the tiltable tractor seat. This simplicity provides for lower manufacturing costs and availability to the consumer. The special feature is the construction that allows for the tiltable seat unit to be interposed between the regular tractor seat and the frame of the tractor. This makes it possible to provide the tiltable seat mechanism as an optional accessory when components are of conventional configuration. Conventional components are also easily replaceable if lost.
The operation is simple requiring only one hand and one motion on the part of the operator to pivot and change the attitude of the seat.